Roundtable: Using Relational Coordination as a Framework and Intervention to Support Collaborative Policing and Improve Crime Outcomes

Session Submission Type: Roundtable Session

Abstract

Efforts are currently underway to better understand how enhanced collaboration impacts crime outcomes, specifically through the BJA’s Smart Policing Initiative. Law enforcement collaboration and engagement with their communities would benefit from a more measured and coordinated approach. However, there is currently no systematic methodology for assessing or strengthening these connections. Stronger relational coordination between police departments and the communities they serve has potential to address these gaps and can support the Collaborative Policing Framework. We propose a study to test a tool and framework to increase collaboration between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve. The framework is Relational Coordination (RC) Theory, supplemented by the Relational Model of Organizational Change and integrated into the Collaborative Policing Model. The unbounded and validated tool is the Relational Coordination Survey. The purpose of this roundtable is to explore RC as a framework and diagnostic tool for understanding the strength of relationships and communication within and between roles in police departments and their communities. We hope to gain insight regarding 1) the RC framework and interventions as it supports Collaborative Policing and 2) potential research designs to test the effectiveness of RC on crime outcomes.

Sub Unit

• Area XIII: Roundtable Sessions

Division of Special Interest

• Divisions of Special Interest / Division of Policing

Chair

• Lauren M. Hajjar, Brandeis University

Discussants

• Brenda J. Bond, Suffolk University

• James Coldren, CNA